


No Power in the Verse

by GhostCwtch



Category: Firefly, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Firefly Fusion Fic, Gen, expect no closure on this fic, mention of Deaf Clint, possibly the beginning of a series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-01
Updated: 2014-09-01
Packaged: 2018-02-15 15:17:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2233794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GhostCwtch/pseuds/GhostCwtch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Captain Tony Stark does not, generally speaking, take on passengers. That his lovely first mate would betray him like this and welcome Captain Steven G. Rogers onboard is just a further sign that he is a terrible judge of character.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Power in the Verse

**Author's Note:**

> So I started this Firefly fusion verse and basically lost where I was going with it. I've polished it up a bit but I wouldn't expect to get closure on this, or for there to be much of anything more to it.

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The last thing that Tony needed or expected upon returning to his ship was to find the Hero of the Alliance, Captain Steven G. Rogers himself, supervising the loading of his personal effects into the hold of Tony's ship. He had told Pepper before he left that they would try and pick up some passengers while on Persephone but what he'd meant was maybe some surveyors or settlers looking to get to the edges of the Rim. Definitely not a high profile hero who would just bring back memories of the very thing Tony was doing his very best to fly the hell away from.

 

Stalking into the hold, he met Pepper's gaze with all the betrayal and kicked puppy sadness he could conjure up. Her eyes widened a little before narrowing. “Tony, he's a paying customer and the war is over. He just wants to get to Belmounte and we're heading that way. You can deal with it for that long. Just hide in the engine room if it's too much.”

 

“I don't want him on my boat, Pepper. It's just asking for a whole pile of trouble that I want no part of.”

 

“You? Not wanting trouble?” Tony turned to find Rhodey standing behind him, hands on his hips. “Please, the day you don't run straight towards trouble with arms out stretched in welcome is the day I stop flying to settle down and raise cattle.”

 

“I always did think that those hats suited you, sugar plum, and it's true. Pepper has betrayed me and invited probably two-hundred pounds of blonde headed misery onto my boat and I won't stand for it.”

 

“You mean Captain Rogers? He seems like a decent guy to me. Paid up front to, so you're too late. If you wanted to argue the choice of passenger, maybe you shouldn't have spent so long rolling around the slag heap.”

 

“Slag heap!? I got us a nearly new grav boot for a fraction of what it's worth. And I got some replacement struts for Dum-E so that he can help load cargo again and you know he's been sulking since that last haul when he had to watch U and Butterfingers do all the work.” Tony thrust his, admittedly grease covered, acquisitions under his pilot's nose. “And you of all people should know exactly why-”

 

“I'm sorry to interrupt,” a voice that was pure Core broke in, “but I was hoping that someone might be available to show me to my quarters? I've had a trying day and would like to freshen up a bit before we set off.”

 

Tony turned to find himself eye to chest with Rogers. Rather than respond, he huffed and stormed off deeper into his ship. If Pepper and Rhodey didn't see the problem with having Rogers here, fine. He'd deal with it. Belmounte wasn't far at full burn and if Tony stayed in the engine room and ensured that they could sustain that burn then, well. He should be able to avoid Captain Rogers until he got off Tony's ship.

 

* * * * * *

 

Watching the captain storm off was not the most uncomfortable experience of Steve's life but it certainly ranked among the most awkward. “Did I say something to offend him?”

 

The pretty red-head who had shown him where to stow his effects sighed. “That's Tony and really his mood is no reflection on you. He doesn't really take well to new people. To be honest, I'm not really sure why we're taking on passengers. It's not like he needs the money.”

 

“Oh?”

 

Pepper turned towards him, arching a slender eyebrow. “He's Tony Stark, didn't you realise?”

 

Steve glanced in the direction the other man had gone. “No, I hadn't, but I suppose that explains a bit about why he might not be too friendly towards myself. I worked with his father some, during the war. I get the feeling that they didn't exactly see eye to eye.”

 

The pilot snorted. “No, no they did not.” He held out a hand. “James Rhodes, but everyone calls me Rhodey.”

 

“Pleasure.”

 

“You mind my asking why you've got so much cargo with you? I wouldn't think a quick jaunt to Belmounte would require all that.” He waved a hand at the large silver crate that was firmly stowed against a bulkhead.

 

“Oh, I'm not stopping long at Belmounte. Friend of mine should be meeting me near there and we'll continue on together out toward Deneier”

 

“Deneier?” Rhodey let out a low whistle. “That is well and truly on the edges of the Rim. Wanting a bit of a vacation from all that nice running water and civilisation?”

 

Steve tried a smile, but was sure that it came out as more of a grimace. “Something like that.”

 

* * * * * *

 

The rest of the crew returned in short order and the hum of the engines changed into the beautiful purr of sailing the Black. Tony's resolve to stay in the engine room until Rogers was off his ship lasted about twenty minutes after take off. Pepper buzzed the comms, signalling dinner was ready and Tony was not going to miss out on fresh produce just because of some blonde has-been who'd worked with his dad.

 

Especially not when he suspected that blueberries were on offer.

 

Peering into the kitchen revealed that Rogers was not in attendance. There were plenty of reasons why not, but for once Tony wasn't going to question his good fortune, and bounded in to plop down into his seat. Natasha stared at him levelly over the blade of her newly sharpened knife and Clint shuffled his disassembled gun out of Tony's reach. Upgrade one tiny laser pistol and suddenly everyone expects explosions and trauma if Tony touches anything but the engines.

 

Some people just have no faith.

 

“So what business did the assassin twins have on Persephone while us normal folk secured our livelihood?” He directed the question at Natasha, knowing from experience that Clint's hearing aids would be stowed on their shuttle after dealing with planetside noise all day.

 

Her answering smile was just a shade to wicked to come across as properly coy. “I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you and that would lose me my ride.”

 

Tony nodded agreement. “It surely would. Rhodey could still fly her but she wouldn't run for long without someone to whisper sweet nothings into her suspension coils from time to time and no one in the verse whispers sweeter than I do.”

 

“Stark, I do not need to be hearing about you romancing the gorram ship again.”

 

He batted his eyelashes at her. “But Nat, you know she's the love of my life.”

 

“Love of your life?”

 

Tony cringed and twisted around in his seat. “Pep, Pepper Pott, honey bear, you know you're the only woman for me.”

 

“But the love of your life is an unreliable, broken down old ship that you bought for pocket change on a whim after a night of strong drinking? Is that what you're trying to say here?”

 

Before Tony had the chance to dig himself further into the hole he was in, Rogers cleared his throat from the entry way. “I, uh. I can come back?”

 

“Captain Rogers-”

 

“Oh, please, call me Steve.” Tony did not find it remotely adorable or attractive that Rogers was blushing, the light burn of pink highlighting his ridiculous cheekbones.

 

“Steve then, please feel free to ignore Tony. That's what everyone else does.”

 

“But isn't he, well I thought he was the Captain?”

 

“Oh he is, he's just not really socialised to other humans so it's easier on everyone to just ignore most of what he says.”

 

“You're all fired.” Tony was not pouting. He was doing something manly and intimidating that would establish his dominance among his crew again. And he was doing it by crossing his arms and jutting out his bottom lip a bit because he was a genius and this was how geniuses conveyed their displeasure with lower beings.

 

“Stop pouting Tony, and eat your protein.”

 

* * * * * *

 

A day into their journey to Belmounte, Pepper received a wave from Phil asking them to stop by and do a transport job for him. Phil Coulson was their contact for everything from spare parts to jobs that would allow them to skirt the edges of the Alliance. Only Clint and Natasha knew much of anything about him, and they weren't telling.

 

He was waiting for them at the docks, and sized up Rogers with obvious surprise.

 

“Not like you to take on passengers, Stark.”

 

“Not much like you to be the one contacting us with a job, Agent.”

 

Phil inclined his head in a nod, and Rogers stiffened, staring at Phil with a sudden level of hostility. “Agent?”

 

“A nickname only, Captain Rogers.” At Steve's look of surprise, he continued. “I'm something of a modern history buff. I've studied your tactical planning on several battles from the war. You aren't exactly difficult to recognise.”

 

Steve ruffled the hair at the nape of his neck. “I suppose that's true enough.”

 

“Well before you two get caught up in some sort of reenactment, you had a transport job for us Coulson?”

 

Phil glowered but turned and motioned for them to follow. “Yes. Fury has a buyer for some Earth That Was artefacts and I know I can trust you to have no interest in skipping off with the goods.”

 

“Ugh. Antiques. No thank you.” Tony stuck his tongue out and screwed up his face. He'd never understand people who went into raptures about dusty old relics that usually didn't even work anymore.

 

“Thank you for illustrating my point. They're not large just these few boxes here. He wants them taken out to Daedalus.”

 

“That's a ways out for sure. Rhodey will be pleased, he likes the Georgia system. Says it's easy flying. Come on, Rogers, you can earn your keep by helping me shift this.”

 

Rogers looked bemused. “Earn my keep? I'm a paying passenger.” Even as he spoke, he was lifting one of the boxes and hefting it onto a broad shoulder. “Or is this another thing that Pepper has to explain to you about human interaction?”

 

Tony grabbed the remaining two boxes and scuttled in Rogers's wake. “Oh, you did not just say that. I should charge you double for taking up all my cargo space with that giant crate of yours. I only charge you going rate out of the kindness of my heart and this is the sass you repay me with?!”

 

Phil watched them go, shaking his head in amusement. Some days, he really had to wonder how Pepper did it.

 

* * * * * *

 

 

That giant crate began to itch at the back of Tony's mind. It looked familiar but in a way that he couldn't place. It wasn't until he was in the hold repairing Dum-E that his suspicions became worth investigating though.

 

Dum-E, like the other two robotic assistants, spent most of their flight time in his specially designed docking bay and tucked more or less out of sight of the rest of the hold. It was clear that Rogers didn't see him as he approached the large silver crate, and made only more obvious when he started muttering to it. Tony observed with narrowed eyes, and bounded over the second Rogers passed safely through to the main body of the ship.

 

It was easy, laughably easy, to disable the security locks and then a quick application of crow bar had the lid flying off with a bang. Rogers bolted back into the room followed by Natasha and Clint, summoned by the noise, but that was all background noise to Tony's shock.

 

Because the thing in the crate wasn't a thing at all.

 

It was a _man_.

 

**Author's Note:**

> And if you couldn't guess, that man is Bucky.


End file.
